FLASH REVIEWS | Quick Cosmetics Reviews | Volume One

BOBBI BROWN SHEER LIP COLOR IN BOBBI

Bobbi Brown does nude lips like nobody’s business. Creating a lip that looks natural but not too drab, dry or dead is no easy feat. Bobbi Brown Sheer Lip Color in Bobbi ($25, bobbibrowncosmetics.com) is everything a nude lip color should be. YLBB (Your Lips But Better) shade of brownie pink nude has a rich, but delicately sheer texture that doesn’t disappear. Ridiculously easy to apply – I just swipe it on and blend with my pinkie. It lasts about 6 hours and did not get dry or gummy. Available in 14 incredible shades. You’re going to want them all.

FREDERIC FEKKAI 3-MINUTE TECHNICIAN COLOR CARE HAIR MASK

Review by Guest Reviewer – Lauren H. →

About Lauren H. – She’s one of my best friends, has an incredible singing voice, is impossibly lovely and has really long dark hair.

PRODUCT RATING: ★★★★★★★★★☆ (9/10)

Frederic Fekkai 3-Minute Technician Color Care Hair Mask ($35, target.com)…is insane. Used it for the first time last night & it completely changed the texture of my hair. My hair is super smooth, full, shiny, & bouncy & won’t tangle. It also wouldn’t take the curl it normally does from being rolled up in a tight bun for hours; it’s super springy. My hair has not had this strength since I was in high school; I didn’t even think it had anything to do with the health of the hair.

I regularly do treatments & deep conditioning on my hair just because it’s dry, but I had no idea my hair was even capable of this kind of texture. How come you didn’t review this on your site?

I used this a lot when I had long hair. It smells yummy (like candy – in a good way), has a rich texture and gives all hair types a smoother texture and shine. If price were not an issue, I prefer the Fekkai Ageless Creme Luxe Hair Treatment ($75, fekkai.com) – although I will say that this performs nearly as well for half the price.

3 CUSTOM COLOR SPECIALISTS EYE SHADOW IN WARM CAMEL

PRODUCT RATING: ★★★★★★★★★☆ (9/10)

As an ex-makeup artist (I don’t think just doing your own makeup qualifies you as an artist) – I’ve pared my usual daily eye makeup routine down to 1 shadow. 3 Custom Color Specialists Eye Shadow in Warm Camel ($17.50 refill, dermstore.com) is the base of my monochromatic look. All I do is shade my lids from lash line to eye socket, add some smudged liner (its more complicated than it sounds – I use about 4 products for this) and several coats of mascara. The look takes about 5 minutes (I used to take 30 minutes to do a full eye look) and lasts all day (this photo was taken about 12 hours after it was applied with no touch ups – I had an early morning).

URBAN DECAY NAKED BASICS PALETTE

PRODUCT RATING: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ (6/10)

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette ($27, urbandecay.com). I was so excited when I learned about this palette of all matte neutrals. Urban Decay’s Naked Palette is brilliant [READ REVIEW] and the Naked 2 Palette, while not my favorite, was still a great value for cooler skin tones. My only complaint was the lack of workable matte shades.

When I received my palette – the Crave (dark shade) had chipped, leaving blackish dust all over the inside and outside of the palette. Not that it mattered. The 3 lightest shades – Venus (soft, off-white demi-matte), Foxy (cream bisque matte), Walk of Shame (very light nude matte), are great base colors but one shade (Shame) would have been sufficient. Naked2 was useless on my light/medium skin tone, leaving nothing but an odd greyish cast and too light to be used on the brow. I liked Faint (warm, dusty brown matte) – but it was a touch too dark for the crease. Crave is a great color – but without any solid supporting shades, just seems out of place.

IMO, just invest in the original Naked Palette – like most sequels, this third installment is a flop.

HOURGLASS AMBIENT LIGHTING POWDER

PRODUCT RATING: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ (7/10)

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder ($45, sephora.com) is available in six shades that mimic the flattering abilities of different types of light. I chose Diffused Light (a matte pale yellow) to help balance the redness in my cheeks and around my nose and chin.

While my skin looked a bit smoother and the redness toned down just a tad – at first the lack of “magic” left me disappointed. In fact, it made my skin look “dry”. However, when combined with the Hourglass N°28 Primer Serum and Hourglass Immaculate Foundation – my skin looked incredibly flawless and smooth – all day. The secret to this powder’s success is proper hydration and priming.

AROMACHOLOGY CUSTOM FRAGRANCE

PRODUCT RATING: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ (7/10)

I love the idea that everyone (not only celebrities) can have their own signature fragrance. Aromachology Custom Fragrance ($90/50ml. or $160/100ml.) offers five base fragrances that can be customized with your own personality traits (like courageous, sexy or empowering). My Aromachology Custom Fragrance (see below) started with the Totally Edible (Gourmand) base and I added Optimistic, Inspiring and Open-Minded top notes based on their components – although those are three characteristics that I would love to be able to spray on.

The results were lovely – although not at all what I was expecting. My fragrance has a top note I don’t like (I’m assuming its the Neroli) and starts to dry down with obvious sharp citrus notes. I suppose I was expecting a more complex version of my favorite Comptoir Sud Pacifique Vanille fragrances with a Fresh Lemon Sugar twist. Its nothing like that type of gourmand. While not my favorite fragrance (it will be hard to out seat Vanille) – my Aromachology Custom Fragrance settles to a nice, crisp vanilla based citrus.

NOTE: I also have the Sophisticated and Sensual Base Fragrance ($70/50ml. or $100/100ml.) which I love! Its a lovely floral that doesn’t overpower or smell like an air freshener. I normally don’t like florals – but this one has a bit of grapefruit which makes it playful.